


Lunar Legend

by CalmSpirited



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, commission, hi i watched one(1) korra episode when it premired but left it for generator rex but here i am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 11:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalmSpirited/pseuds/CalmSpirited
Summary: A commission from wombatking on tumblr!Korra makes an impulsive move and suffers from a horrible accident, and Asami is there to help make her life as best as it can be.





	Lunar Legend

“There’s gonna be a supermoon tonight!  _ Come on _ , Mako!”

 

“No, Korra! I told you-” Switching his phone to his other shoulder to prevent the first twinge of a cramp he felt twitching up his muscles, he pinched the bridge of his nose as Korra kept on, trying to convince him to go to the Bundabar Cliffs with her- and apparently, his brother had already turned traitor and agreed to go.

 

_ God, he was really backed into a corner, wasn’t he? _

 

“Korra, someone fell off those cliffs just, like, two years ago? They died! Those cliffs are dangerous-”

 

“Nothing too dangerous for me! I’ll be careful, you know that.”

 

“ _ Ugh _ , look, I’ll make a deal: stay away from the sheer part, and I’ll come with you without a fuss, alright?”  _ Maybe that would appease her. _

 

“Oh, you’re no fun! We can’t see very well from that area!” If Mako was in front of her now, Korra would’ve punched him in the shoulder until he caved in  _ (like he always ended up doing) _ , and hoped the puppy eyes she made over the phone would persuade him. “I won’t get near the edge, okay? I’ll give it a  _ wide  _ berth.”

 

“You promise, Korra? I don’t want you to get hurt.” A lit of concern filtered through his voice, really concerned that korra would  _ actually  _ do something dangerous- even moreso than usual. “Hey, wait, what about the beach party?”

 

“The beach party?” Korra parroted, racking her brain for a few moments trying to recall what Mako was- “Oh right, the party! Well, the zenith of the supermoon won’t be til, like, midnight, so we can hang at the party until then, and then sneak off and watch it then go home. Easy peasy.”

 

_ Easy peasy- as long as her parents don’t know she’s staying out that late. _

 

And hearing Mako sigh after a pregnant pause, the girl pumped her fist into the air at Mako’s verbal white flag, and Korra spoke up before he could get the final word in. “I’ll be ready by eight: you better be here by then!”

 

The elusive sound of Mako laughing rung in her ears, and it made her smile on the other end of the line. “You’re on Bolin duty tonight, though. I don’t want to have a repeat of last party where we have to run from the cops.” Korra tuned out most of what Mako was saying, too excited to really take notice of the warnings he was shooting at her-  _ there was a beach party and a supermoon in one night! _

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


Korra, in addition to being a star athlete in her school, was a star-gazer: she loved to study astronomical events and to look out her window and gaze upon the moon, the stars- it fascinated her to no end, and it left her feeling almost spiritually fulfilled after a quick night job under the dark sky  _ (much to her parents displeasure as they thought it was too dangerous to run around so early in the morning before school). _

 

The supermoon just had her  _ pumped _ , almost more so than the after-the-school-year party.

 

Flopping down on her beanie chair after winning her battle with Mako, she grinned wolfishly at her phone, the bright, LED screen lighting up her face and making her look all that more  _ victorious  _ as she texted the one person she had yet to let in on her secret plan- Asami Sato.

 

_ “Hey Asami!” _ She texted, her mouth  _ lopsided _ with the force of her grinning as she talked to her girlfriend.  _ “U comin 2 the party tonight?” _

 

The response came just a few moments later, more properly punctuated than what Korra would type. _“Yeah, totally! But I’ll probably be a few minutes late. Dad wants to have a short meeting with me before.”_ _Oh, boo._ She knew her girlfriend had had a serious falling out with her father, so bad that she had actually gotten herself completely emancipated from him last year, an incident that had brought them closer… and eventually led to them to start dating, especially since Asami didn’t have her father around to be nosy.

 

He was nice enough, but he had made some business decisions that they didn’t approve of, and Mr. Sato had to pay the piper for it.  _ But at least Asami and I have each other to make it more bearable.  _ Asami had freedom, but with the stipulation that she have weekly meetings with her father and if she kept her grades up- and Korra had forgotten that tonight was their meeting night.  _ But it’s fine!  _ Korra thought, dismissing her ever so slight disappointment, knowing how long those meetings could go on for and how it would  _ definitely  _ go into their party time.

 

_ “NP” _ She texted back, tucking her bottom lip inbetween her teeth and smiling like an idiot.  _ “Txt me back when ur on ur way. Imma get dressed now” _ And then, for extra gayness-  _ “<3 see ya later babe :)”  _ which was responded to with even  _ more  _ affectionate  _ “XOXO u2 sweetheart” _

 

Asami wasn’t usually  _ that  _ affectionate towards people, but seeing it directed at her in her own special way make Korra’s heart soar far above any bird or building around.

 

Leaping to her feet, she rushed to her closet to pull out her favorite outfit.  _ Tonight was going to be so great! _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

The loud sound of Mako’s old truck’s horn echoed throughout the house, along with the sound of Korra rushing to complete her last minute preparations before she headed out the house, her wallet shoved into her jacket pocket along with her phone and house keys, patting herself down to make sure she had everything with her.

 

“Bye Mom, bye Dad! The brothers are here!

 

“Goodbye Korra! Remember your curfew!” Rolling her eyes at her father calling her out from across the house, she gave one last look at the clock on the wall, reading the time and seeing that the brothers were a few minutes late in picking her up.  _ They’re going to get a smack for that. _ “Korra!” The athletic girl’s mother called, nearly rushing out of the kitchen to smush a beanie onto her head, and to pull her jacket tighter around herself. “It’s going to be a bit chilly later on tonight, so don’t stay out late.” And then she slipped an energy bar into her pocket; what was it with that woman and giving her snacks when she goes out!?

 

“Be home by midnight, and call us every hour!” Pressing a kiss to her mother’s forehead and waving enthusiastically at her father in his study, she wormed her way out of her mother’s hug, and bounded towards the door-  _ well, tried too _ , her mother stuffing a kleenex in her pocket along with the energy bar.  _ I’m not a baby anymore!-  _ but she didn’t speak up, knowing it would just make her even later and more peeved at the boys than she already was.

 

So, she broke into a sprint, bursting through the front and screen door, slamming it shut behind her and locking her sights onto the green truck with twin heads of dark hair sticking out from the front seats and Bolin’s stockier form waving her on. “Come on, slowpoke! Let’s get the party started!” Well, he was obviously very excited, as always.  _ And even though she was still a bit miffed at the boys for being a few minutes late, Bolin’s excitement was contagious,  _ and a smile spread across her face as she climbed into the backseat. “Says you! You’re late.”

 

“By, like, two minutes. And what, you weren’t taking your sweet time in there, getting ready for  _ Asami~” _

 

“Oh, hush, Bolin, you cried when I first told you we kissed. Mom was shoving stuff in my pockets again, like I’m going to feed a village or something.” To display her evidence, she pulled the energy bar out of her pocket along with the wadded-up tissue, holding it up for both the boys to see before pocketing it again. 

 

Mako had the  _ audacity  _ to chuckle under his breath from his place behind the wheel, and if Korra hadn’t just put the energy bar back into her pocket, she would have smacked him with it. Instead, she pulled out her phone and pulled up Asami’s last text, the one littered with just pure  _ lesbian love _ , and shot her a quick:  _ “omw to the party, hmu when ur coming”  _ and then adding a heart emoji at the end with a soft smile on her face.

 

A smile that did not go unnoticed by Bolin, though, who was waiting for her to pick her head back up from her phone with a wide, cheeky grin. “So, who was that?” And  _ that  _ earned him a punch in the shoulder, which he recoiled from like he had been  _ shot.  _ “Ahh, you’ve killed me, Korra! I’m dead- aaahhhhhhh~” Moaning fake-death noises, Bolin turned back to slump in his seat, tongue lolling out of his mouth and certainly looking the part of being deceased.

 

Nobody moved nor spoke for a moment, then cleared his throat, and Korra  _ swore  _ that Mako had a hint of an upturned quirk to his lips.

 

“So, uh, want some Wendy’s before? Beach food would be way too salty and sandy for me, or you can eat that energy bar yo-  _ ow _ , hey, I’m driving!” And Mako, seemingly rising from the dead, chimed in on the Wendy’s offer. “I want a Frosty!”

  
  


_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Every other teenager that was going to the beach party had the same idea, evidently. Needless to say, they were lucky to get in line at the drive-thru without being on an half-hour long waiting list, and ended up following a fleet of cars going to the same destination that they were. It gave them plenty of time to eat their food, though, and for Bolin to suck his Frosty dry.

 

Perhaps a bit too much though. “Wow, Bolin.” Korra quipped, teasing and payback in her tone. “You sucked that Frosty quicker than you suck di-”

 

_ Immediately  _ halting his excessive slurping, Bolin whipped around in his seat and gave the young woman a squinty stare.  _ “ _ You want to _ count the sUCC RATIO-” _ But he was thwarted by his older brother, a hard swat given to the side of his head by a hand holding a burger. “Don’t start that again.  _ Do not.” _

 

“And there he is again, everybody!” Holding his arms up like he was making a huge announcement, Bolin gave his brother jazz hands along with his most sarcastic tone he could muster. “The fun-stealer himself-”

 

“The fun- _ succer _ , you mean.”

 

“Even better! The fun-succer himself, my brother-!”

 

“Yeah, I suck and swallow fun and steal candy from babies, but that’s why  _ I _ have my driver’s license, and you all  _ don’t _ .” And Mako’s statement effectively quieted all opposition and teasing from all sides for the rest of the ride to the beach: neither one of them had any particular reason as to why they did not have their license other than Korra and Bolin had failed their tests- Korra for being too aggressive and Bolin for not taking it seriously enough and for  _ actually letting “Jesus take the wheel~!” _

 

_ Honestly, Bolin’s probably banned from the DMV _ , Korra thinks, collecting everyone’s trash into the large Wendy’s bag they had requested to fit everyone’s food inside as the beach came into view, the salt of the air and the sound of seagulls and waves crashing against sandy shores assaulting her senses in a nostalgic way that reminded her of her seeming natural affinity to the water; she was an excellent swimmer, declared the best in the county after several school competitions and many awards later for various other sports that she had competed in-the water called to her like no other.

 

_ Asami always cheered me on- Asami!  _ Whipping out her phone, she quickly checked her messages for any sent by Asami, but she only found one, sent by Jinora- _ and of course it was a cat meme, and of course she sent one back just as equally as cute and age-appropriate. _

 

_ “Hey bb hows it goin?”  _ Korra sent her girlfriend a quick text before locking the screen and hopping out the car with the brothers, her feet hitting the sandy grass that Mako had parked in, pocketing the phone back into her jacket, just in time before Bolin grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down to the sandy shores of the beach where there were plenty of tables and bars set up with food and drinks about, and she could see that their known local DJ was busy setting up their  _ entertainment  _ for the evening.

 

Bolin was  _ pumped _ . “WHOOOOO! CHICKEN STRIPS!”  _ The only thing that would make it bette-  _ As Korra was being dragged away by a hungry Bolin and followed by a softly grumpy Mako, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket a single time, and the olive-skinned girl reached for it with her free hand, thinking it was just Jinora-

 

When another hand grabbed her other arm-  _ a soft and familiar hand. _

 

She forgot all about the message.  _ “Asami! You made it!” _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

The party was  _ instantly _ a  _ hundred _ times better when Asami arrived, in Korra’s eyes; her girlfriend, the radiant dark-haired gem of her life, really just made  _ life itself  _ so much more appealing and fun when she was there, and honestly, Korra really couldn't remember a time before Asami came into her life where she had been  _ this  _ happy.

 

_ It was really gay,  _ Korra smirked,  _ but she’s my gay. _

 

The party soon got into full swing, with plenty of hot food, ladies in bikinis, and the forbidden substance of alcohol- beer, mostly, and Mako was  _ most prudent  _ about not letting Korra, Bolin and Asami not having more than one, despite the fact he chugged two down in front of their little group.

 

“Wow.” Bolin poked, and Mako braced for the teasing he  _ knew  _ Bolin couldn’t contain within himself. “Our designated driver is getting drunk  _ right _ in front of us. You know, this is why teens feel  _ emboldened _ to drink-”

 

“Hush, Bolin!” Mako gave him brother a stern  _ whack! _ onto his shoulder, but he disposed of his beer bottles in the nearby trash can and steered himself and his friends clear of any more alcohol in the vicinity.

 

The party was great, Korra thought, she got to dance and hang out with her classmates, talking about school, college, summer plans- which made Korra realize that she…  _ really didn’t have any _ , except to hang out with her friends and smooch her girlfriend more than humanly possible, of course. And worry  _ a tiny amount  _ about college. And sending memes to Jinora and all of her little honorary cousins.  _ And the supermoon- _

 

Gasping when she remembered that she almost  _ totally forgot  _ the lunar event, she whipped out her phone and saw that it was just past quarter to midnight-  _ if I leave now, I can make it to the cliffs!  _ Grabbing Mako who was right beside her, she apologized to the girls that they were talking to, fairly certain that she yelled something about the moon to them as a  _ reasonable  _ explanation while keeping her vision trained on spotting Bolin and Asami.   
  


“Korra!” Mako exclaimed, used to having Korra drag him around on occasions, but given the two beers that he had consumed earlier, the rough and sudden jarring motions didn’t exactly _ bode well _ on his stomach. “Slow down! Do you want me to vomit on you?”

 

“ _ Ew _ , Mako- I almost forgot the supermoon! Where’s Bolin and Asami? Do you see them?” The athletic girl panted breathlessly, picking up her pace towards the dirt path that led to the top of the cliffs that she was  _ so _ determined to reach.

 

“They’re over by the food bar- Korra, I’m serious, slow down.” 

 

_ Begrudgingly  _ listening to Mako’s grievances  _ (and want to avoid him getting sick) _ , Korra slowed her running pace to a  _ extremely  _ fast walk, sand being kicked up as she strided and sticking to Mako’s pants in her wake. But Korra didn’t pay attention- she was too laser-focused on locating her other two best friends, the male of which she found trying to  _ eat _ the entire hotdog bar while Asami simply stood behind him, staring and shaking her head.

 

She called to them, waving her free hand frantically to beckon them, then pointing towards the cliffs when she made eye-contact with both of them, hoping that they would catch her drift.

 

_ They had to catch up with her first, though _ . Asami, less heavyweight and quicker than Bolin, reached Korra first, panting lightly and her light blue-green eyes dancing off the tiki pole lights that lit up the party. “I had forgotten about the supermoon until just now. Let’s hope Bolin can catch up and not spill his hotdogs everywhere.”

 

And as if to  _ prove  _ her point, they all heard Bolin squeal out “My hotdogs! Hold on, guys! I’m comin’!”

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

“I don’t know which is more spectacular: The supermoon or Korra  _ literally drooling over it.” _

 

“Don’t make fun of my girlfriend like that, Bo, I’ll fight you.”

 

“”Bo?” You know, actually I wouldn’t mind some Bojangles after this…”

 

“After those, what, 5 hotdogs you deepthroated at the stand? I’m the richest girl in town and I don’t think I can keep up with all these food expenses.”

 

“Well then  _ thank goodness _ I have my own job and can pay for it myself. I don’t need NO MANS- expect for you, Mako, I always need my brother.”  _ If this wasn’t such a common occurence, the other people (mostly teenagers making out) _ around them on the cliffs might’ve paid attention to the scene. Not even Korra was paying attention to the  _ entertaining  _ scene going on behind her, too absorbed in what was going on in front of her, more accurately what was going on  _ in the sky-  _ the large moon, a soft orange color in the sky, shining its reflective rays onto her skin and illuminating her- the scientific and spiritual aspect of the phenomenon really spoke to her  _ soul. _

 

Bathing in the moonlight made her feel like a  _ goddess _ at times, and standing here, at its zenith, made her feel small yet powerful, like a  _ tiger _ waiting to be  _ released _ .

 

A splash below her drew her attention from soaking up the light of the moon, and she looked down to see someone bobbing to the surface in the water, obviously having just dived off the less sheer part of the cliff, their friends cheering and whooping to her left- and before she knew it, she was shedding her jacket and beanie, leaving her in her comfortable beach clothes with the barest hint of a cool wind ticking the hair on her arms, and assumed a diving position.

 

The last thing she heard before she leapt off the edge was her girlfriend crying out behind him “Korra! That’s the shallow area!” But it was too late, Korra had already had her body halfway off the ground, and Asami warning just made her stumble just enough to make her perfect dive a  _ little less than perfect _ , and as she vaulted over the edge and saw the water and rocks below her, she realized that she had made a  _ grave _ mistake.

 

The water rushing up to meet her and the sound of the air whistling past her ears made the screaming and yelling of her name sound far more distant that it actually was, but it didn’t matter as everything seemed to go in slow motion for her, her heart racing and adrenaline  _ surging  _ through her body, the whole fall couldn’t have lasted for more than three seconds, but it was three seconds of her mind going blank, and then with the jumbled thoughts of  _ I’m going to die I’m going to die, I’m sorry, I love you guys, oh no nO NO, Oh Gods, help me, please! LET ME LIVE-! _

 

The very last thing she remembered, from something she must’ve saw on TV but she didn’t have the memory for, was that things hurt worse when they tense up, so she  _ relaxed _ herself, almost calm-like, as her body struck the water, and then the rocks just beneath the surface, the amount of water she had fallen into nowhere near enough to slow her down and she stuck it with full force.

 

_ Incredible _ ,  _ horrific _ pain lit her body up for a few moments, so painful that she couldn’t even  _ scream _ , but then… it died off, ebbing away like the tide.

 

_ It terrified her. Then,  _ she thought,  _ maybe I’m not injured?  _ She made a move to stand- but everything was slow, sluggish, her legs felt like lead, barely able to move them as well as her arms- it was then she realized that she was underwater, and she was drowning.

 

_ Something’s not right, _ her mind hazy and jagged, she found it almost impossible to swim, something she had been doing since an infant  _ (if she hadn’t been as stubborn and determined as she was, she’s sure she would’ve given up) _ \- but Korra is a  _ fighter,  _ and she weakly kicked and scrambled her head above water, and leaned herself against a rock poking out of the water’s surface.

 

The pain was distant now, as if just out of her reach  _ (like she wanted to reach it!) _ , and it was hard to decipher her own mind,  _ and everything was so difficult… No! I’m not going to die!  _ She tried to wipe away the hair over her eyes, but she found that her arm wasn’t obeying her, only able to twitch it upwards before it feel into her lap.  _ No, what’s wrong with me?! _

 

“Korra!  _ KORRA!” Whose voice was that? It was familiar, and so, so… worried… _

 

_ Arms around her, but she couldn’t hug them back. _

 

_ “KORRA!” Why are they so loud… I’m so tired… let me just… five more minutes, Mom NO WAIT… _

 

And then, extreme fatigue washed over her like nothing else before, and she passed out in the arms of whoever was holding her, having no choice in staying awake anymore.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

_ “Who are you?” What is going on… Korra awoke in a standing position, facing a glowing white… whatever it was; it had no end, no corner or wall or edge, but there was a presence behind her, and she turned around to face a man she had never seen before, but he felt… friendly. _

 

_ “You will find out soon. I’d like to leave it as a surprise.” God, she hated this part in a move, and she instantly felt a bit of anger well up in her chest with a hint of pride. “Excuse me, I didn’t ask for a surprise, I asked for your-” _

 

_ “You asked ‘who am I?’ which has many answers, and I told you: I am a surprise, one you will find out soon enough.” The answer took her back some, not used to being talked to in that manner. Usually when she got hot-headed like that, she got the answer she was looking for. “Do you think this is some sort of game, dude? I just-” Just what? What was she doing? A feeling of dread came over her, but she still could not remember. _

 

_ “Do you wish to remember? To remember is to know, and to know is to experience.” Cryptic. Even though this guy was pissing her off, he was being a fucking cryptic and she kinda liked that. But his words felt like a loaded gun, a gun he had just handed to her and placed her fingers on the trigger. _

 

_ Did she want to know? She felt fine, never better, even, and it got brighter behind her, the sun appearing out of nowhere and illuminating a sudden, new landscape below her that was breathtakingly beautiful. “I want to know. I want to remember.” _

 

_ “Are you sure?” He spoke, now coming into closer view, long graying hair and beard and a stern face that made him look like the Terminator. “Knowledge is power, but at a price. In your case, a heavy price.” _

 

_ “YES!” Korra exclaimed, rushing towards the man to grab at him, so maybe he wouldn't stop beating around the bush and hurry the Hell up, but then… he vanished into air when she clutched his arms, Korra gasping and stumbling as she held onto nothing. _

 

_ Then she started falling, the floor seemingly vanishing underneath her feet as she fell, screaming as the light that surrounded her faded out to pure darkness. _

 

_ “Most humans only use a fraction of their brain… perhaps you’re an exception.” _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

_ Cold. _ Her brain told her that it was cold, she was cold, the air was cold and unnaturally clean, that it hurt to suck air into her lungs.

 

Her brain felt like scrambled eggs, and  _ everything hurt on some level. _

 

Senses and sensitivities came back to her slowly, as if she was the slowest computer in the world booting up with the worst processor that needed to be taken out back and shot. It took a few minutes and a mild panic attack to realize that she had yet to open her eyes and that no, she wasn’t blind, just a little bit slow to the party-

 

 _Memories flooding back, about the end of school party, the supermoon, her friends and the beautiful night sky, and then… she jumped._ Korra sobbed outloud, the realization that she had jumped in the _worst_ was that she could’ve made her have an overwashing of emotions throughout her entire body, and that’s when she _really_ _started_ _panicking_ , when she went to wipe the tears away from her eyes and found that she had no response in her arm whatsoever from her neurotic command. She tried her other arm, tried to move her fingers to curl into a fist- nothing happened. She tried to wiggle, tried to kick her legs, nothing worked. In fact, she found she could only twist her head from side to side, and move her left shoulder up just a fraction of an inch when she devoted all of her strength to it.

 

Just barely a shrug. That was all that she was reduced to, except…

 

Korra screamed. Scream and screamed and screamed, until the machines that she was hooked up to started making all kinds of alert noises and a slew of doctors and nurses rushed in to her, and kept screaming her lungs out while they all looked at her, her vitals, and then the feeling of something cold flowing into her arm shocked her back to sleep with her mouth still open, her screams dying off to whimpers and moans of pain and then numbness and darkness yet again.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

_ “..rra? ...orr...Korr...? Korra? It’s me… please…” _

 

_ “Five more minutes, Mom.” Korra mumbled to whoever was trying to wake her up, turning her head the opposite way of the voice, who had thankfully decided to stop talking. “School’s out. Why is it so early?” God she just wanted to go back to sleep. _

 

“Korra?”  _ That’s not Mom.  _ Groggily, she turned her head back to her voice to see her three little honorary cousins standing by her unfamiliar bedside, all looking at her with wide eyes and, for once, all silent and still. “Wh…” The fact that they were all calm  _ startled  _ her. “What are you… doing here?”  _ God, it was so hard to think _ ,  _ what was wrong with her?  _ “Where is…” Her surroundings, colors she didn’t recognize and  _ not hers _ , she realized that she wasn’t in her room.

 

Her memories came back a second time, but slower this time, and less of a rush than before. Suddenly, she was at a loss for words, starting at the three kids waiting by her side with dull eyes that were usually so bright.

 

Jinora stepped forward. “Korra, you got hurt. Really badly.”  _ What have I done? _ The young woman wanted to do nothing more than to break out into tears and sink into the bed, and never return, to do it all over again… Like before, she reached up to wipe tears away from her eyes, only to find her arms unresponsive to her command.

 

She  _ refused  _ to cry in front of her little cousins, so she gathered her resolve and spoke, voice hoarse from screaming earlier and barely above a raspy whisper. “Go get the doctor. _ I can’t move. _ ”

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

“You’re extremely lucky you didn’t die on impact.” After chasing everyone out, Korra only permitted her three best friends to stay in her room, only hearing the gist of medical terms and conditions from the doctor before she had waved him away, saying that she was too exhausted to listen and comprehend what was going on.

 

She wasn’t in that  _ much _ pain from the first time she awoke, but the pain medication that was being pumped into her system was probably taking the edge off.

 

And the look on Mako’s face made her feel  _ worse _ \- he was really taking this hard on himself, as if he was solely responsible for what happened to her. “You’re so lucky.” He repeated again, seeing the usually stoic man tear up and exhale shakily.

 

Bolin, for once, didn’t have anything quirky to say, but simply held his brother close, the roles reversed for once.

 

But what was so devastating to Korra was that she  _ couldn’t feel _ Asami hold her hand, pat her leg, could barely feel the hug she had given her- all she could do was watch Asami slowly break down the longer she sat by her girlfriend, tears streaming down her face and her chest heaving with sobs. “The doc-doctor said you should’ve  _ drowned _ . He said you broke you- the area of your spine and neck, a-and,  _ Korra _ , you  _ shouldn’t _ have been able to drag yourself above the water let alone swim to a rock.”

 

“Mako was almost ready to jump in after you, but that would’ve… not helped.  _ Oh, Korra.” _ Korra had been impulsive all of her life, never really needing to think about her actions before doing so, but now… for the first time in her life, she truly regretted something. But this isn’t like something you can apologize for or doing something nice for someone and make it better.

 

_ No. _ Korra mused, turning back to face the white ceiling that she was already getting sick of.  _ This is permanent. This is forever. This is what I am now. A literal sack of stupid human shit.  _

 

_ I’m paralyzed from the shoulders down for the rest of my life. _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Korra was in the hospital for the next couple of weeks that passed by in a haze of medication and pain and  _ loneliness _ , even though someone was there with her at all times. Even the old crazy lady that lived next door, Ms. Toph, came to see her, poking her nose squinting at her for a moment before sitting down in the chair next to her and telling her about her garden, and it ended somehow as a metaphor that Korra was completely lost in, something about mind over body, and then she hobbled out of her room.

 

Korra was too drugged up to really pick apart the meaning of life, in her fairness.

 

The last day that she stayed in the hospital, though, was painfully crystal clear, the nurses and doctors teaching her friends and family about her  _ wheelchair works- _ sip-n-puff, they called it, showing her that she could send commands to it by inhaling or exhaling on the little wand that stuck in her face that she didn’t see how much it could help her if she was  _ paralyzed from the shoulders down. _

 

The only positive was the small bit of movement she had in her left shoulder, the miniscule little  _ shrug _ she could give that meant  _ more _ to her than any material possessions that she had, and one that gave her doctors hope for her regaining her mobility and the main reason that she  _ demanded _ that they send her to some sort of physical therapy, because to Korra, it was her  _ one hope _ of living a semi-normal life again.

 

Being wheeled out of the hospital was one of the most… emotional rides of her life, feeling shame and embarrassment and rage all at one, knowing that if she wasn’t completely paralyzed she would’ve lashed out and hit somebody or something on her way out to vent her troubles.

 

The ride home was completely silent, her father gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, her mother having to tell him to relax his grip a more than a few times while barely holding herself together with a kleenex over her face.

 

The guilt was eating Korra alive, and she turned her face away from her girlfriend sitting beside her, not bearing to look at anybody lest she break out into tears again.  _ That was the last thing anyone of them needed.  _ The ride home gave her a chance to think:  _ our house isn’t wheelchair-made-in-mind. I’m gonna have to be fed, clothed, washed and cleaned by others. I won’t be able to run or swim or even text, I can’t hold Asami’s hand nor can I feel it. I have to literally blow on a fucking straw to get anywhere or do anything, I’m completely fucking helpless- _

 

_ No. No, I’m not. I can think, I can speak, I can at least move my head and twitch my shoulder. The doctors said that there was new technology coming out every year that could help me, like STEM cell therapy. I may not be able to move, but I can think and speak for myself. _

 

_ I will walk again.  _ Resolving herself, she inhaled deeply and straightened her neck as much as she could, a new wave of strength and motivation hardening her dull eyes and clenching her jaw.

 

  1. _Will. Walk. Again._



 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

“Hello, Ms. Korra, I’m Dr.Zaheer, and I’ll be your physical therapist.” The man was oddly familiar, giving her a sense of deja vu… but she pushed the thought out of her mind, shaking her head and nodding at her PT as noticeably as she could while she puffed on the straw hard enough to get it in motion, rolling forward towards the table he sat across from.

 

With every doctor that she had seen, they had all said their sorrys and sorrows for Korra’s accident, but Dr. Zaheer apparently rightly decided that korra had heard enough of them already and skipped right past that part. “How are you today, Ms. Korra? Any change in your condition since you were released a week ago?”

 

“Not really, sir.” The man walked up to her chair, looking and inspecting the gadgets for a few moments before turning his attention to her, bending down to look into her eyes and at her face, putting his hands on either sides of her cheeks and turning her head back and forth to test her range of mobility. “Not really?” He parroted back, and  _ there was that sense of deja vu again. _

 

“Well… I can feel, like, a tiny bit of my left shoulder- in comparison to my right.”

 

“I read in your report that you could move your left shoulder a minor amount. Can you demonstrate?” And like with all other doctors, she did; it was hardly anything more than a small twitch, but it was movement that Korra relished, and that Dr. Zaheer apparently found quite interesting, moreso than the staff at the hospital, who were more concerned about the rest of her and dismissed her small twitchings. Honestly, she was surprised that it was in the report at all. “Ah. That implies an uneven injury or strike. This may be hard for you, I understand, but did you fall on one side, or did you throw yourself to your right side? That’s often people’s first instinct when they’re falling, to fall on their dominant side.”

 

While the doctor carefully poked and pressed down on various area of her shoulder, Korra struggled to recall the actual falling with that one detail in mind- the actual memory and event itself was  _ seared  _ into her mind like a bright LED screen, but did she actually throw herself onto her right side? She remembers free falling and pitching in the air, and remembering to go lax when a hit is imminent- “Maybe? But I did, like… try to relax myself. I saw… something a long time ago about people who tense up get hurt worse, so I think that’s what I did.”

 

“Hmmmmm.” Zaheer hummed in a way Korra could only describe as  _ intrigued _ , and stood back up after inspecting her shoulder, getting a few responses in certain nerve endings that even Korra was surprised to feel. “That’s certainly true, Ms. Korra, and I think that’s what saved you from instantaneous death. You’re extremely lucky that you didn’t have more severe injuries. Now, can your…?”

 

“Girlfriend. Asami Sato.” Standing up from her seat behind Korra, Asami held out her hand for Dr. Zaheer to take, and he shook it with just as much force as Asami put into it.

 

“Ms. Sato, can you help Ms. Korra to stand and hold her?”

 

“But-” Asami spoke, a look of confusion on her face. “She’s paralyzed completely.”

 

“You’ll be amazed what the body will do. Paralyzed people often get  _ different results  _ when they are completely standing up. It will only be for a few moments, so if you please, I’ll take her left.”  _ Oh my God, who was this guy, he is ringing some serious bells in my head- _

 

Without another word, Asami slipped her hands under her armpit and whispered in her girlfriend’s ear to  _ ‘get ready’ _ before both of them grunted with their combined efforts and brought Korra to a stand, both of them keeping her propped up while her feet were placed flat onto the floor.

 

“Since your left shoulder is clearly not as devastated, can you try and move it now?”

 

And, to Korra’s surprise, she found that she could  _ twitch _ more  _ accurately _ and when she wanted to, compared to it often not obeying her and sporadic.

 

“Good. Now, sit her back down. Today won’t be as much focused on actual movement as more as on the topic of  _ mind over matter.” _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Even out of the hospital, Korra was still taking medicine for pain.

 

She hated it, especially at first to the point where she refused to take one of her doses- which she  _ regretted _ about an hour later when the last dose wore off, but  _ promised  _ herself that she would slowly weaned herself off of it and eventually be off of pain pills for good.

 

They tasted horrible, but not as horrible as that spaghetti that Bolin tried to make on their first little _ ‘get together’  _ since the accident. Nor as horrible as the pun he made afterwards. Her friend’s faces were still heavy, but at least Korra could still make them all laugh with her own puns and jokes.

 

Mako and Bolin couldn’t come over to her house often since they both worked hard to save up what money they could. But Asami was over at her house for hours a day, some days not even leaving and temporarily moving in until duty calls drug her away from her lover.

 

But tonight, unfortunately, was not one of those nights, when Korra had something heavy on her tongue to speak. “Asami?”

 

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

 

“I… If I… don’t get better-” 

 

“Korra, I’ve listened to you rant for hours about all the cool stuff you’re going to do when you get better, so don’t say that.”

 

_ Asami always brought a smile to her face, bless her.  _ “Yeah, yeah, I know. But… just in case, you know,  _ I don’t _ , then I’m… I-I’m completely fine if you-”   
  
“If I what?” Asami stopped what she was doing and faced her girlfriend, now having her full attention.

 

“You don’t have to take care of me forever.”

 

For a split second, Asami looked  _ angry _ , like she was  _ insulted  _ that Korra would even imply something like that. “Money  _ is not _ an issue.”

 

Korra’s mouth dropped into frown lines, and hardened her face muscles. “Money  _ isn’t _ the issue. But I want you to live your life, and not be burdened by mine.”

 

“Korra, that is  _ not happening.  _ Look-” The tall woman knelt in front of her wheelchair-bound girlfriend and cupped her cheeks, forcing her to pay attention to what she was about to say. “I defied  _ everything  _ for you. I love you so, so much and I am not giving up that easily, if ever. If you really, truly, in your heart, don’t want me here, then I’ll-”

 

“I do!” Korra blurted out. “I want you here. I love you so much, too- too much, I know it won’t be easy and I would understand.”

 

“Nothing in life is easy, Korra, and if you don’t want me to leave then I won’t. You remember what Dr. Zaheer said? “The weak do not walk and the strong will surmount?” That’s you, Korra. You’ve never backed down from anything- you weren’t even have supposed to survive, but here you are!”

 

Parting her mouth to interrupt, Asami silenced her with a kiss that lingered and conveyed her passion and emotions, tingling Korra to her soul. “You may be right, you may not be able to walk again, but I am  _ certain  _ you will be able to hug me again.”

 

_ Oh, she wanted nothing more in the world than that one simple luxury she had always taken for granted. _

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

School is starting soon, less than two weeks, Korra notices, and she’s a little more than terrified about going back-  _ if she can go back _ .

 

She had gotten countless condolences, countless classmates that she both put a name to their face and had no idea who they were had come to say hello and how she was doing- it was a bit depressing, really because there they all were, perfectly healthy and yet  _ there she is, scooter McGhee.  _ At least they didn’t stay long.

 

It was mostly Asami who chased them away with a wooden stick, but there was also her parents, the brothers, and once even Naga, her snow white… polar bear-dog looking mutant, and once Jinora with  _ disturbing GIFs.  _

 

“So, Korra.”

 

“Yeah, babe?”

 

“Have you thought about going back to school yet? Like, decided if you want to go back?”

 

Pausing, Korra pursed her lips together and gave it a final thinkover before answering “Yeah, I want to try. My parents talked to the school counselors, and they said you could even be with me all day.”

 

A smile graced Asami’s  _ gorgeous features _ , and Korra’s heart skipped  _ several  _ beats. “That’s great! I’m glad you said yes: actually, I’m  _ really glad  _ you said yes because…” Trailing off on purpose, she left her girlfriend in suspense while she finished up folding their laundry. “.. I had something planned as a celebration.”

 

“Oooooh, a celebration, huh?” The olive-skinned girl teased, her eyes narrowing and eyeing Asami in mock suspicion. “What is it, chocolate cake?”

 

“That’s actually part of the surprise. But it’s all outside.”

 

“Outside?”  _ What, did she finally put that trampoline together for Bolin back at the orphanage?  _

 

“Think of it as our first date since everything that’s happened.” The usually patient girl walked behind Korra, grasping the wheelchair handles and rolling her towards the back door. “You remember the funnel cake Bolin ate?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“He actually didn’t eat it; I snuck it away for this date.” And as soon as the back door was opened, korra could see what Asami had done: she had set up the picnic table with their favorite foods and the commandeered funnel cake, all right out in the middle of their backyard.

 

If Korra hadn’t been so used to this type of affection, she might’ve shed a few tears over how  _ sweet this was.  _ “This is… wonderful! You really didn’t have to do this! Like, seriously, this… this is almost too much, like-”

 

“You’re worth it, Korra. Every bit of it.” Stopping the chair right in front of the table, Asami promptly sat down and picked up a forkful of cake, and held it up for Korra to eat from, which her girlfriend chomped down on eagerly. “You’re far sweeter than this cake.”

 

“Hmmmm.” Humming through her mouthful, Korra tilted her head to the side. “This cake is pretty sweet, though. That’s hard to beat.” 

 

“I think I can: The Embakasi Comet is set to pass in a few minutes.” 

 

_ She had been anticipating that since before her accident!  _ “Okay, you just beat the sugar out of me. You win.” 

 

And then Asami reached out to hold Korra’s hand, and even though she didn’t say anything since it could ruin the moment, Korra could  _ feel  _ it-  _ finally, she felt something! And as if it sparked something along her nerve endings, her palm twitched a singular time.  _ But given the way Asami gasped, eyes wide as saucers when Korra mentally willed her fingers to move, Asami wasn’t one to be fooled.

 

As the comet passed, on its own journey throughout the universe, Korra had flipped the next page in her own book of travels, full of new hope and vitality and light in her eyes for the first time in months. 

 

Korra was ready, and Gods help whoever stood in her rolling way.


End file.
